Marathon runners were stopped on Commonwealth Avenue before the Massachusetts Avenue overpass.

April 19, 2013

Marathons are so unique in the feeling that we are all in it together — with the lead runners pulling from the front, the slower ones pushing from the back, and the crowd providing support and sustenance to all along the way. This is why the Sports section’s April 16 cover photo of the marathoners stopped in their tracks on Commonwealth Avenue was among the day’s most poignant.

It matters little, of course, that these runners were unable to finish a foot race. But in this photo there is carnage of a different kind than that seen in those of the bombing’s aftermath. Seen here is the immediate impact the brutal attack had upon the Marathon’s glorious wave of positive energy and collective struggle.

The runners will return, and the race will endure, because such energy and spirit cannot be destroyed. But on this sad day, both sure took a horrible beating.